Pfizer Inc. announces it will invest $100 million over five years in a new drug-development center to be located in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. The project is part of the company's ongoing efforts to restructure its vast R&D operations.

The new world headquarters for the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation will house 40 employees and Pfizer's drug-development activity, and complement the company's existing offices in Cambridge.

Work at the facility will be done in collaboration with various renowned Boston-based medical and research centers. They include: the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Tufts Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Children's Hospital Boston, Partners Healthcare, Harvard University, Boston University and Tufts University. Pfizer indicated in a press release these partners could earn "milestone payments" for successful development of the "next generation of medicines."

"These partnerships allow leading medical and clinical experts to join with Pfizer's highly-skilled scientists and advanced drug development capabilities to speed the translation of innovative science into medicines for patients," said Jose Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, Ph.D., senior VP and head of BioTherapeutics Research and Development for Pfizer. "Our ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and the delivery of promising candidates to the pipeline."